882 The Hittites pay tribute to Asshurnazirpal III, who carries their princes into captivity.
876 Carchemish, once the Hittite capital, now the capital of the petty state of Sangara, is entered by Asshurnazirpal.
854 Hittites enter into the alliance formed by Ben-Hadad II of Damascus. They suffer in the defeat at Qarqar. Most of the states are annexed to Assyria.
717 By this time Sangara is the sole state of the former Hittite empire that has retained independence. Pisiris, its king, joins with Mita of Moschi to refuse payment of tribute to Assyria. Sargon II proceeds against him. The people of Carchemish are transported to Assyria, and the city is populated with Assyrian colonists. This is the end of the last remnant of the Hittite empire. Many monuments of the Hittites have been discovered of recent years—most important of all, ruins and sculpture in Cappadocia east of the Halys. The art exhibited on these works is of a rude, primitive character, although it was influenced in succession by Babylonian, Egyptian, and Assyrian culture.
THE KINGDOM OF MITANNI
One of the important kingdoms of antiquity was Mitanni (called Naharain by the Egyptians, and Aram-Naharaim in the Bible), but at present we have no connected account of its history. “The kingdom of Mitanni,” says Rogers, “must take its place among the small states which have had their share in influencing the progress of the world, but whose own history we are unable to trace.”
1580 Tehutimes I of Egypt reaches the kingdom of Mitanni in his Asiatic campaign. In a battle fought on the borders, the king of Mitanni is defeated. From this time forth there is constant intercourse between the Nile and the Euphrates.
1522 Tehutimes III extends his conquest as far as Mitanni, which is made tributary to Egypt.
1470-1400 From the Tel-el-Amarna letters we know that Artatana, Artashuma, Sutarna, and Dushratta are the names of some of the ruling kings at this period. Between these and the Pharaohs there are family ties, since several of the Egyptian rulers married princesses from Mitanni. This shows that the kingdom is now of some importance.
1400 We find from now on the forces of Mitanni in alliance with those of the Hittites, and they doubtless play an important part in the Hittite conquests. In the last years of the XVIIIth Egyptian Dynasty, they are instrumental in driving the Egyptians from the land of the Amorites. The power of Mitanni is increasing. It is constantly allied with the Canaanitish and Babylonian princes against Egypt.